PS3 screen flickering when using optical sound - HELP!

I remember having this same problem years ago when I first got my home theatre system, and after weeks of stuffing around with settings I managed to fix it.

Fast forward to today and my PS3 phat died with YLOD and I've got a new PS3 slim. After setting it up the flickering returned. I have no idea what I did 2-3 years ago to fix it and it is hugely frustrating me. I wish the PS3 would just work as well as my Xbox out of the box. Unfortunately I have already formatted the 500gb drive that was in my old PS3 for the new one so there is no way of checking what settings I previously used.

Searching the net shows unhelpful answers such as turning the PS3 off and on again, or unplugging and re-plugging the HDMI cable. This issue happens randomly but frequently and I use PlayTV for FTA TV, so turning it off and on again is massively annoying.

So to sum up:
1) This only occurs when using HDMI for video and optical for sound from my Samsung HD-BD2 HTIB. I'm not willing to downgrade my resolution using component cables, or use the stereo sound on my TV instead of my optical surround sound.
2) This is not a HDMI cable issue. I was using the same cable previously, had the same issue and fixed it with the PS3 settings.
3) This is not the flickering that occurs when the PS3 is changing resolution, such as starting a game or watching a bluray. This is constant white flickering on the XMB, watching video's, everywhere.

Has anyone experienced the flickering issue with PS3 and optical out (which appears to be relatively common via google search) and know what settings in the PS3 should fix it?

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